


Heat Brute Meet-Cute

by newtypeshadow



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, BAMF Tony Stark, Beta Tony Stark, Established Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark, Everyone is intersex, Extremis Tony Stark, Fade to Black, Getting Together, Identity Porn, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Meet-Cute, Minor Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts, Multi, Omega Steve Rogers, Polyamory, Protective Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Gets a Hug, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22353223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtypeshadow/pseuds/newtypeshadow
Summary: When Tony, a beta, intervenes to keep an omega in heat from getting mobbed by horny alphas, he doesn't expect that omega to be Steve Rogers—a.k.a. Iron Man's good friend and crush Captain America. Not that Steve knows Tony is Iron Man. Or about his crush.Steve needs a safe place to go, and an alpha to share his heat with. Tony's mate Bucky is an alpha—and also the Winter Soldier, another friend of Cap's with a secret crush.Maybe helping Steve get what he needs will get them all the relationship they want.
Relationships: Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 66
Kudos: 716
Collections: StarkSpangledWinter Wonderland Event, Tony-involved Omegaverse Fics, betaverse





	Heat Brute Meet-Cute

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Stuckony discord's StarkSpangledWinter Wonderland server event, for NSFW Prompt 50: A/B/O - Omega Steve goes into heat while out at the market alone. He gets saved by a beta named Tony Stark and taken back to Tony’s mansion and alpha mate, James Barnes. What started out as another potentially lonesome and dreaded heat becomes one of the most passion-filled weeks of Steve’s life. (Your choice if he’s small pre-serum Steve or hot post-beard or no beard Steve.)
> 
> I didn't focus on what the prompt wanted me to, but I hope you all (and OP!) enjoy the fic anyway.
> 
> Thanks to [PinkGold](/users/PinkGold) and [ABrighterDarkness](/users/ABrighterDarkness/pseuds/ABrighterDarkness) from the server for betaing! Any mistakes left are mine.

Tony jumps from the car before Happy can convince him not to intervene in whatever throwdown's attracting alpha-types all over the farmer's market to the alley they just passed. He's a beta, so not as strong and large as alphas typically are, but he's also secretly Iron Man and an Extremis-brand super soldier, so he's not worried about getting hurt.

One whiff of the strong, mouthwatering omega heat scent coming from that direction tells him all he needs to know.

If he sees an omega getting sexually assaulted at ten in the goddamned morning, the whole world's going to know he's Iron Man by ten-fifteen.

But he's not concerned about being outed as a superhero either; not much can touch a multi-billionaire.

"Hey!" he shouts over the commotion of alpha growling and posturing and…pained grunts and thuds. Huh. He hopes that's a good sign. Maybe he _won't_ find a scene on the other side of this horny knothead horde that makes him lose his shit. He pushes and yanks and knocks his way through the crowd that's stopped moving forward in favor of looming, their scents progressively more worried or angry the closer he gets to the omega. When he breaks through at last, he sees _Steve Rogers_ , shaky and leaking heat pheromones and rage and a touch of fear, surrounded by groaning alphas who may or may not ever walk again.

Steve glares at Tony like a cornered animal and shies away, keeping his back to the grimy brick wall.

Because even if Steve is lucid enough to recognize Tony Stark—genius, billionaire, philanthropist, and outfitter of superheroes for SHIELD, Steve among them—he absolutely _won't_ recognize Tony as his beta friend Iron Man. Only Steve and Bucky's enhanced noses are strong enough to potentially identify Tony through his Iron Man suits, so before Tony wears one around the Avengers, he and Bucky test its filters extensively to ensure none of his scent will leak out and make him identifiable as Tony Stark, rather than his mysterious bodyguard.

Unfortunately, this is the one-in-a-million situation where Tony regrets his own competence. Steve recognizing his scent would make things much easier. Hell, this crowd recognizing him as Iron Man would make things easier too, but it's too late to don the suit without being seen. He'll have to do this as himself.

Tony puts his hands up and tries to radiate calm, because everyone really needs to calm the fuck down. He shows his back to Steve, puts himself between him and this horde of salivating alphas, pulls out his glasses from where he's materialized them in his sport coat, and puts them on.

He and JARVIS are already working to identify every man on the ground and in this crowd, taking video, building up evidence for a harassment case, if nothing else.

"Alright people," Tony shouts, "show's over, nothing to see here, move along! If you don't want a Stark Industries lawsuit, bankruptcy, and your own spot on the sex offender registry for trying to assault a heat-impaired omega, you need to leave _now_."

A burly alpha radiating much more anger than wariness turns that and his fist on Tony.

Tony puts the knothead down _hard_. Information about the asshole's identity starts streaming across his lenses. "Jason Matthews. Work for an Amazon warehouse. Three parking tickets and one DUI—in the last six months, wow. Father of Timothy and husband of Jane—though maybe not for long, nobody likes being cheated on by a violent knothead rapist." Tony shrugs and kicks him aside. "Your life is over. Who's next?"

He turns back to the crowd that seems a little less focused on Steve and a little more wary of this whole situation than they were a minute ago. It could be Tony's protective scent, or his calm, or the fact that he took down an alpha much bigger and stronger-looking than him in half a second and then promised that he, Tony Fucking Stark, would ruin the guy's life for showing up in this alley.

"Full disclosure, I've recorded your faces and you'll all probably be visited by police at some point today for being a witness or a perp. Anyone else want their spouse to know how they spent their morning?" He starts pointing people out. "Brian, you want Ray to know you were here? What about you, Allen? Doesn't Stacy's prenup have an infidelity clause? Wow, Harry, aren't you _already_ a sex offender? You must be branching out—this guy's _way_ older than twelve."

It doesn't take long for the crowd to disperse after that. Steve's heat scent is tantalizing, but heats and ruts don't actually _overpower_ your judgment—they just make you so horny you're willing to do dumb things to get relief. Some alphas use that as an excuse to harass and assault other people, but unless they're also otherwise mentally impaired, even the most knothead of alphas will back off if they think they'll suffer consequences for what they're trying to do.

When the last one's gone, Tony pockets his glasses—so the nanites can covertly slip back under his skin—and turns to Steve with his hands up.

Steve, panting, has parked himself in a corner and is watching Tony warily—but doesn't smell as angry or afraid as he did a few minutes ago.

Tony crouches and tries to make himself look and smell as small and harmless as he can. He can't help pumping out all the protective scent he's got going, and his scent is stronger than most because of his Extremis serum, but Steve will smell he's only a beta, which is generally a safe gender to be around in his condition. Betas aren't as deeply affected by heats and ruts as alphas and omegas, which is why they're the tertiary gender most often employed by heat/rut medical centers as both administration and mating partners.

Although he and Bucky always have fun, Tony's never envied Bucky's ruts; the sympathetic heats he gets in response to them are distracting enough.

"Steve, do you remember who I am?" he asks gently.

Steve sucks in sharply and nods. "You're Iron Man's boss. Dr. Stark."

"You can call me Tony, but yeah, I am. I also consult for SHIELD and make your uniforms."

Steve tenses. "I don't know what you mean."

Tony can't help rolling his eyes. "I know who you are—" He only barely stops himself from calling Steve "winghead." _Iron Man_ knows Captain America, but Dr. Stark and the good Captain aren't anywhere near close enough for such familiarity. "I know who _all_ of you are," he says instead. "It helps with the whole making gear schtick."

Steve pulls himself to his feet. He seems much taller than when Tony's in the suit, which adds a few inches to his own average height. "What do you want?"

Tony stands more slowly, hands still open and out, and tilts his neck in submission to show he's no threat. "I want you to let me take you somewhere safe. I have a car waiting on the street. We'll drive you wherever you want, but you're not safe here—you know that." The farmer's market has the sidewalks clogged with people and will for the next few hours. He and Steve scared off one group of alphas, but more will catch Steve's scent soon enough, and then they'll have to do it all over again. When Steve looks hesitant, Tony adds, "Iron Man will never forgive me if I leave you out here."

That seems to do it. Steve takes a few hesitant steps forward. He scents the air—and his eyelids flutter. He lurches close enough to touch.

Tony doesn't move.

Steve sways and stops well inside Tony's personal bubble. He smells divine, and this close, even with all the chaotic smells of the market wafting into the alley, Tony can smell him getting wetter.

God, that's hot.

Tony shakes himself and gently takes Steve by the elbow, an easy hold to escape if he wants. "C'mon." He backs up toward the street.

Steve follows.

It's a little hairy for a moment when they emerge on the crowded sidewalk, but they're both radiating _Don't fuck with me_ vibes, and coming from two super soldiers, it's a pretty powerful olfactory deterrent. Steve only kicks one guy—a good fifteen feet, toppling people as he lands—so Tony's counting that as a win.

Happy's parked with his hazard lights on right where he stopped the car. He opens the door for them and Tony hurries Steve inside. While they get situated, he raises the privacy partition. He's glad he doesn't have to bother with the scent filters; Happy's an omega who's very, _very_ straight across all three genders, and is also the recent proud husband of alpha Pepper Potts, another of Tony's friends. Despite once being Tony's bodyguard, Happy rarely comes across as threatening.

(Pepper, on the other hand, radiates alpha confidence and competence while remaining unthreatening—but she's SI's CEO for a reason, and can turn on the alpha menace in a heartbeat if she has to. She rarely does these days; SI employees and the business world at large have learned the hard way not to cross her.)

Steve doesn't seem to mind Happy's presence nearly as much as the way he has to fight the urge to face-plant in Tony's neck. It looks like he only puts on his seatbelt to hold himself back. "Sorry," he mutters, "you just smell really good."

The feeling's entirely mutual, but luckily Tony was enough of a playboy for so long he's a high-functioning horndog by now, and old hat at keeping himself to himself. "Yeah? So do you, even without the heat scent. Speaking of which—where should we take you? Do you have a heat partner?"

Steve's face clouds and his jaw clenches. He looks so frustrated—in an angry sense, not a sexual one—that his eyes grow suspiciously wet.

Tony doesn't envy him. Heat hormones are the worst, and his aren't nearly as strong as an omega's.

"I, uh. Dr. Zola assigned me one," Steve says quietly. "From SHIELD. Said I need an alpha, at least for now, just to make sure everything's working, after the—after the ice."

Tony frowns. "Does your heat partner know where you are?"

"God, I hope not," Steve snarls. "He's— I think—" He deflates a little. "He and Zola want me to get pregnant. I don't even think my suppressants are real suppressants. Not the ones I have now, anyway." He slumps, anger giving way to despair.

Tony reminds himself to breathe and stay calm, because Steve needs his help right now, and he shouldn't split his attention to mentally hack into SHIELD and figure out who to blast into space and who to let live to rot in prison for this.

Steve casts him a wry grin—probably because he's leaking a metric ton of protective scent again, and it's much easier to smell in the car than in an open alley full of horny alphas.

Well, Steve Rogers has _no idea_. When Bucky finds out what SHIELD tried, Iron Man and Winter Soldier are going to remind everyone exactly why the name of their deadly team is "The _Avengers_." Iron Man and Winter Soldier are two of Captain America's best friends. Sometimes Tony wonders if they'd all be more than friends if Steve knew Winter Soldier's beta mate is actually Tony, and Iron Man's alpha mate is Winter Soldier. Everyone knows about Tony Stark and his charming mate Bucky, but aside from a few people at SHIELD knowing who Winter Soldier is, their superhero identities are a closely guarded secret.

Speaking of Bucky, Tony needs to give Steve some options—even though it feels kinda like he's thinking with his dick. "Do you know for sure you need an alpha?" he asks.

Steve shrugs. "Not many doctors are qualified to give me a second opinion." He glances at Tony, then zeroes back in like he can't make himself look away. His pretty blue eyes rove over Tony, in his flight-rumpled slacks and blue sport coat and cat meme t-shirt, and black rapidly eclipses them. Steve's nostrils flare. He leans closer—

—and is stopped by his seatbelt.

He flushes prettily, mouth open and lips so wet and inviting, then shoves himself against the door. His hands clench in his lap. "Sorry. I didn't… I should've asked. And I know you're spoken for."

Because the person in question is Steve, Tony knows, "Bucky won't mind. He'll think it's hot. You know he's an alpha, right?"

The sudden, strong scent of slick answers that question. Steve turns even redder and seems to look everywhere but at Tony.

"We can help you through your heat, if you want," Tony offers. "If you need an alpha." He tries to sound neutral about it. He doesn't want Steve to feel pressured either way. "But we can get you into any heat clinic you want by the end of the day too. Or if it's just scent you need, we have a guest room we use for Bucky's ruts that seals from the inside. It'll smell like alpha, and we've got knotting dildos and a bunch of other stuff in there. It's a safe place to ride out your heat, if you want. Much safer than the SHIELD apartments. And obviously my bodyguard will make sure no one gets in without your permission."

Steve smiles fondly. "Iron Man."

Tony grins. "Iron Man."

Steve looks longingly at Tony's lap. "Your mate won't mind?"

"Most people he would, but _you_ he won't mind. You've met him before. He likes you."

Steve's scent sweetens and his eyes glaze. "I feel like I'd remember if we met."

Tony grins wider. "Don't worry, you'll recognize him. If you come home with me, I mean." He knows he should probably come clean about himself and Bucky, but he's excited to surprise them with each other, so he doesn't.

Anyway, the minute they catch a whiff of each other they'll know. Bucky and Steve wear strong scent blockers to work, but that's not enough to thwart a super soldier's nose—especially given their serums make their scents much stronger and clearer than an average human's.

"Can I…?" Steve motions at Tony's neck.

"Of course," Tony says, and opens his arms.

Steve jerks his seatbelt off and all but dives at him, curls his legs across Tony's lap and his large body tight to Tony's side. When he buries his face in Tony's neck, the way he shudders and lets out a contented moan makes Tony feel like a man in a porno.

Steve smells fucking amazing—and Tony can tell the feeling is mutual by the panting against his scent gland, the way Steve clutches his sport coat, and the sharp, sweet scent of Steve's arousal amplifying the thick honey heat scent pouring from him in heady waves.

Still, Steve feels a little tense, smells ever so slightly of guilt—so Tony lightly scents him with his wrist, both as a comfort and to say _I want you here_.

Steve jolts, then goes boneless. His tension takes the sour scent with it.

"That's it," Tony croons, rubbing his back and trying to ignore his own burgeoning erection and the telltale trickle that says he's starting to pump out slick. He tries to radiate calm, to think unsexy thoughts; Steve still needs help. "We'll sort this out," he promises. "I'll make you an omega version of the suppressants I give Winter Soldier when we get home, and if you decide you want us to help you with your heat, Bucky and I have some implants that make us sterile. If you want some of those I can do that for you too, so you won't have to worry about kids until you want them."

Steve nuzzles closer. Tony pretends he doesn't notice the sudden hot wetness of tears against his neck, or the thickness in Steve's voice when he says, "That would be amazing, Tony. Thank you."

While Steve cuddles close and buries himself in Tony's scent, Tony mentally calls Bucky's cell phone—because Extremis is awesome—and asks him to get the rut room ready for an omega he's bringing back to the mansion who might use it for the next few days.

"Did you seriously bring an omega back from your trip?" Bucky asks, sounding cautiously displeased.

"He was fighting off alphas at the farmer's market and doesn't really have a safe place to go."

Bucky's voice softens, and Tony taps into JARVIS's cameras to watch that fond little smile he gets when Tony does something he thinks is sweet. "Well, there's nowhere safer than here," he admits, and hurries to make sure the room will be comfortable for an omega, and that the fridge and pantry are stocked with the kinds of easy meals, snacks, and drinks Tony prefers during his sympathetic heats.

"I should warn you, he likes how I smell," Tony adds. "He won't decide if he wants to go it alone or with our help until he meets you though."

Bucky's face twists in frustration—and then melts into suspicion. "I know this omega, don't I?"

Tony lets the grin on his face slip into his mental voice. "Maaaaaaybe."

"Who it is?"

"You'll know when you see them. We're about two minutes out—see you soon."

Bucky huffs. "I love you."

"I love you too, Bucky-bear."

"Who's the omega?"

Tony's mental voice laughs. "Nice try."

"Worth a shot."

Tony's grinning like a loon through getting Steve's new suppressants and birth control implants squared away for production with JARVIS. By the time Happy opens the car door for them, all that's left to do until they're ready is "introduce" Steve to Bucky.

Steve reluctantly releases Tony and slides out of the car. Happy drags Tony's bag to the front door (because going through the front will let Tony milk this reunion for all it's worth—it's got the best camera angles), and while Steve tries not to wrap himself back around Tony even though he's standing closer than strictly necessary, Tony rings the doorbell and tells Bucky his hands are full via mental text.

His mate rolls his eyes and answers the door.

And stares at Steve, who stares at Bucky, while they gauchely scent the air and realize who they're looking at.

Their scents are even clearer after Tony nudges Steve inside.

Steve glances wildly at Tony, and Bucky, and the wide, homey foyer around them. He seems a little overwhelmed. He turns back to Tony's beloved alpha mate and asks, hopefully, "Soldier… You're Bucky?"

Tony snickers. "Bucky Barnes, this is Steve Rogers, the omega from the market."

"Holy shit," Bucky breathes. "Cap?"

Tony blames the wetness that's returned to Steve's eyes on heat hormones. Cap's usually pretty even-keeled—even when he's being a troll or punching robots through the spine. He lunges and wraps Bucky in a bear hug, and then they're all smiling and laughing, and Bucky's got a death grip on Tony's hand while he sighs happily into Steve's neck, which Steve has offered up so sweetly. When they step apart, Bucky reels Tony against his side and tenderly scent-marks his neck, kisses his head.

Steve wipes his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"So, you need heat partners?" Bucky asks like they're discussing the weather, or reason number five-hundred-and-forty-seven why the guys on the STRIKE team are dickbags.

"Yeah," Steve says, his happy, hopeful scent worlds away from the worry and distress he'd smelled of when Tony brought it up in the car. "Doctor says I need an alpha for this one, at least. Are you both really okay with this? Helping me?"

Bucky raises an eyebrow and grins. "Me 'n shellhead've wanted to ask you out since Sokovia, you just didn't seem interested in dating someone with a mate."

"You and—" Steve's wide eyes snap to Tony.

Well, since the cat's out of the bag… Tony lets the nanites wash over his face in a wave that materializes and vanishes the Iron Man Mark XII faceplate. "Like I said, winghead," he says smugly, "Iron Man would never forgive me if I left you out there."

Steve huffs an incredulous laugh even as the scent of fresh slick wafts up from the wet spot on his jeans.

Tony's body slicks up in response, and his clit tingles when he clenches to keep anything from dripping out. Less usual for him is the throb at the base of his thickening dick, telling him he's going to pop a knot embarrassingly soon. This'll be his first sympathetic rut since he started dating Bucky—but for Steve, he'll happily deal with the cave-alpha hormone cocktail.

"So. Tony Stark and Bucky Barnes, huh?" Steve asks, a playful glint in his lust-blown eyes.

"At your service," Bucky purrs. He looks Steve up and down with liquid heat and slides his hand down to palm Tony's ass.

Tony arches into it, wordlessly begging his mate to dip his fingers lower, where he's wet.

Steve breathes in sharply. The scent of arousal goes through the roof. He raptly watches Bucky use his fingers _to be a goddamned fucking tease_ while Tony tries not to fall over, go ass up, and beg for it—but finally he says, "Okay," all deep and breathless, and steps into their shared personal space. "Let's get started. Where do you want me?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading—I hope you enjoyed the fic! If you did, please let me know with kudos/comments! I love getting them, and they also feed my muse, which runs on enthusiasm. ^_^
> 
> If you're on Discord, come join us on [the Stuckony server](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n)! It's a wonderful place full of creative, supportive, enthusiastic people! I've written _so much MCU fanfiction_ because of them—a bunch of which (*cough* the novella *cough* the novel *cough* the series *cough*) isn't posted yet. ♥


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